Logistical issues and scheduling complications have postponed the London debut of the Tibetan Freedom Concert.
Scheduled for September 15 at London’s Brockwell Park, the festival was to feature organizers the Beastie Boys, along with Joe Strummer, Pulp, Morcheeba and others.
“We will take this time to continue our political work and to transfer the energy generated in the planning of the London event to an alternative event to be announced at a later date,” organizers said in a statement Friday.
This year’s Tibetan Freedom Concert would have been the first since several were staged simultaneously around the world in the summer of 1999. The Beastie Boys played in East Troy, Wisconsin, that year, and have not taken a stage together since. They were slated to co-headline the Rhyme and Reason tour with Rage Against the Machine last fall, but it was canceled after Mike D was injured in a bicycling accident (see “Beasties-Rage Cancel ‘Rhyme & Reason’; Yauch Talks DVD”).
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch started the Tibetan Freedom Concert series in 1996 with the intention of raising awareness of the situation in Tibet, whose people have struggled since 1959 to regain their freedom from China.
Tibetan Freedom Concert organizers asked fans to continue to support Tibet, despite the postponement.
“To all the fans who waited so eagerly for this opportunity to show their support for the Tibetan cause, we would like to encourage you to stay involved,” they said in a statement. “This is a critical time for the people of Tibet; now, more than ever, they need your help. The Milarepa Fund, Free Tibet Campaign, and Students for a Free Tibet offer numerous ways to participate in this worthy cause.”
